The prevalence of hypertension in rural and urban Cameroon

Background. The quickening pace of change and adoption of western lifestyles by people in developing countries has led to a sharp rise in the incidence of hypertension. Yet epidemiological studies using validated methods are rare especially in Central Africa. Methods. The prevalence of hypertension, according to the World Health Organization definition (systolic blood pressure [SBP] ≤ 160, diastolic [DBP] ≤ 95 mmHg), was estimated by a population-based survey in 1798 Cameroonian subjects aged 25-74 years. There were 746 individuals from a rural area (308 men, 438 women) and 1052 (461 men, 591 women) from an urban area. Results. The response rate was 95% and 91% for the rural and urban populations respectively. The age-standardized prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in the urban than in the rural area. It was 16.4% (95% CI: 11.6-21.2) in urban men and 12.1% (95% CI: 7.9-16.2) in urban women, while it was 5.4% (95% CI: 2.9-8.0) in rural men and 5.9% (95% CI: 3.8-8.0) in women. Borderline hypertension (SBP 140-160, DBP 90-95 mmHg) was detected in 7.4% (95% CI: 4.4-10.4) and 6.6% (3.1-10.2) of urban, and 7.3% (95% CI: 4.7-9.9) and 2.9% (95% CI: 1.5-4.4) of rural men and women respectively. Conclusions. These results indicate that hypertension is still uncommon in rural Cameroon but occurs frequently in the urban community, reaching a proportion comparable with industrialized urban communities.